Erin Patton is widely regarded as one of the nation's leading experts on branding and Sports Marketing and its foremost authority on Hip-Hop culture and urban consumer behavior. As Founder & Principal of award-winning brand management consulting firm, The Mastermind Group (TMG), he has counseled a plethora of Fortune 500 brands including Motorola, AT&T, Exxon-Mobil, Adidas, Converse, Mercedes-Benz, Ford Motor Company, Coors Light, Absolut and Macy's in addition to global sports icons LeBron James and Venus and Serena Williams.

 

During his tenure with Nike, Inc., he was hand picked by Michael Jordan as the original architect for the JORDAN brand, authoring the original business plan and engineering its successful launch in 1997. In that role, he was responsible for the brand's global strategy, product, sales and marketing functions, growing the business to $350 million in global revenues.

 

In 2006, he spearheaded NBA star Stephon Marbury's Starbury launch and $14.98 sneaker in partnership with national retailer Steve & Barry's which revolutionized the footwear industry and garnered launch of the year from Footwear News and Advertising Age.

 

As a renowned thought leader and researcher, Patton has been hailed for "cracking the code on the urban market" with his breakthrough 7 CiphersTM segmentation framework and quantitative pilot study that attracted flagship sponsors Pepsi, MTV and The Brookings Institution.

 

Prior to founding TMG, Patton served as Senior Vice President/Group Head for Edelman Public Relations Worldwide's Diversity Marketing practice. Under Patton's leadership, the Diversity Marketing practice implemented numerous high-profile consumer campaigns targeting multicultural consumers including Microsoft X-Box, Kraft, General Mills, UPS, Pfizer, Acuvue, And 1 Mix Tape Tour and Wrigley's Doublemint partnership with The Williams Sisters.

 

He has been recognized with awards from distinguished organizations including the coveted Edison Award from the American Marketing Association, United Nations Honorable Mention, International Public Relations Association, The Network Journal's "Forty Under Forty Award" and the Innovator Award from the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF).

 

Gifted as a dynamic public speaker with extraordinary communication skills, Patton is highly sought out as a speaker at conferences, symposiums, universities and corporations. He has appeared as an expert on ESPN, CNN, VH1, and Fox News and been quoted in USA Today, Time, Newsweek, Business Week, Wall St. Journal Fortune and Inc.

 

Patton also currently serves on the faculty of the SMU Cox School of Business Department of Marketing as an Adjunct Lecturer. In 2009, he released his first book, "Under The Influence: Tracing the Hip-Hop Generation's Impact on Brands, Sports & Pop Culture."

 

Patton is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He later earned his MBA from the SMU Cox School of Business in Dallas. He currently resides in Frisco, Texas with his wife and two young sons.

 

 

 

 

 

AT&T 28 Days from Erin Patton on Vimeo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topics:
Branding, Marketing/Merchandising, Vision/Purpose, Consulting, Sports/Athletics

Links:
 
Under The Influence



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